New Sign At St. Augustine Catholic Church

Photo credit: Colleen Duffee 

The beautiful new sign at the St. Augustine Catholic Church on Tunrer Street, Austin, Pennsylvania, was purchased by Stanley Swank in memory of his parents, Harold and Anna Swank.

Note that there are two sides to the sign which was created by Lubera Design.

Thank you very much Stanley for this beautiful work of art.

School Path Initiative Hall of Fame

The following individuals have donated money or performed volunteer work to have the School Path Lights repaired and/or the brush cleared. They are hereby Commended for their Civic-Minded Generosity.

(Note: Room has been made so that other names can be added when they make a donation to this worthy project, or, perform voluntary work without pay to enhance this project.
 You can send your donation to this ongoing project at the following address:  Bernard Fowler, C/O The School Path Initiative, P.O. Box 401, Austin, PA 16720

A

Don Ayers Jr.

Don Ayers Sr. 

Arcana Lodge F & A.M.

Austin Area School District Faculty & Staff.
Austin Boro News Blog

B

Paul Bennett 

 Barb & Herm Beyer

Bucky & Samantha Blanair
Bill Brewer

C

Matt Cook

Denny & Kim Cooney

Hilary Cooney

Ed Corey

D

John & Judy Dynda

Pete Dynda

E

Ronnie & Priscilla Ebbert

F

Shawn & Cindy Foringer

Bernie Fowler

Jeff & Crystal Fowler
Fred "Joe" Fowler

Mike & Angie Fowler

Amy Fox

Amanda Freer-Langfitt

G

Corey & Ronda Glover

Rich & Billysue Glover

Richard T. & Nancy Glover

Shaun & Amber Glover

Stewart & Tracie Gordnier







H

Chris Hewitt

Billie Hilfiger

Bob & Britta Hooftallen

Harry Hooftallen

Kristin Hynds

I

J

Mark & Kathy Jeffers

K

Brenda (Bush) Kline



L

Donald Lathrop

Curt & Jennifer Leightley

M

Kim McCloskey
Kayla & Shane McKeirnan

Bryan & Amanda Moate

Dot Moody

N

Northwest Savings Bank



O



Laura & Jon Ogden 

John & Denise Owens

P

Joe & Becky Pennypacker

Nila VanWhy Perez

Heather Freer Postlewait

Potter County Commissioners

Steve & Jane Purdy

Q

R

Amber Reddick

Glenn Rees
John "Huggy" Rotello
David Ruberto Sr.

S

Terry & Roxy Setzer

Blair & Brooke Shupe

Nate Siebert

Daleen Sinnamond

Steven Small

Renee Smoker
Angela & Oren Stuckey

T

U

V

Denise Valenti

Kelsey Valenti

Sue & Joe Valenti 

Fred VanWhy

Colt Vasko

Lee & Kim Vasko

W

Y

Andrea Yoder

AASD Students Visit Local Museum

On Friday, August 12, 2014, the E.O.  Austin Home/Historical Society  had the honor of hosting Mrs. Michele Rodich, Art Teacher, and students from the Austin Area School District.

The students will be performing a Project Based Learning course of study this year.  They have been given a variety of projects to choose from and will be responsible for the whole process with guidance from teachers at the school district.

Director Ronnie Ebbert and Vice President Mike Fowler gave  Mrs. Rodich and the students a tour of the museum and answered a large number of questions the students had regarding the history of the dam, paper mill and community. Students also had time to view photographs of the community before and after the 1911 flood.

Pictured left to right are Laine Robinson, Kina Logue, Anderson Nicka, Hunter Stuckey, Jordan Kinney, Skybree Setzer, and Mrs. Michele Rodich

Austin Borough News - Setzer Appointed Mayor

Due to the passing of Philip VanWhy, the Austin Borough Council met Monday night and elected Jimmy Setzer as our new mayor.  This was a very difficult decision by all members of the council as we had two (2) exceptional candidates apply for the position.  Darwin Manning was the other candidate.  Both gentlemen are hard-working,community-minded individuals.  It is hoped that Darwin decides to run for Borough Council during the next election.

Jimmy Setzer

Darwin Manning

 Also noteworthy is that Councilwoman Victoria Setzer, sister-in-law to Jimmy, abstained from voting.  She is to be commended for making that decision.

AASD Students Visit Dam Ruins

Last week Tracie met with the Austin High School students at the park to discuss park projects.  The students will be working on murals, pictorial picnic tables and interpretive walking trails.   They will be participating in water and erosion control educational programs at the park sponsored by the Potter County Conservation District.  The park also plans to host an educational program on honey bees as well as the heritage  apple trees.

The education model being used is termed  Project Based Learning.  Basically, various teachers, such as history and art and English and science and physical education are all working together with students on real life projects. Students are required to come up with ideas, do the research, study needs and feasibility of the project and then proceed to make it happen.

In my humble opinion, this has to be one of the best student/teacher learning experiences in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, all taking place in the smallest public school in the state.

Historical Society Scholarship Update

At it's monthly meeting held on September 4th, the members of the E. O. Austin Home/Historical Society added the following requirement for 2015 applicants:

Twenty (2) hours of community service at the E.O. Austin Home/Historical Society museum.

The scholarship criteria now reads as follow:


Each year the E.O. Austin Home Historical Society awards at least one (1) $300 scholarship to a

graduating senior of the Austin Area School District.

To be considered for this scholarship an application by the student must be made to

the Museum no later than May 1, 2015.

The application is to consist of a typewritten statement identifying the student and

stating their record of accomplishments, including, but not limited to academic record,

organization memberships, leadership positions held, completion of twenty (20) hours of

 community  service at the E. O. Austin Home/Historical Society  museum, and athletic

 participation, etc.

Accompanying the typewritten application must be a copy of the official acceptance letter to the

institution  of higher education the applicant plans to attend.

The winner of the E.O. Austin Home Historical Society Scholarship will be identified during  the

Austin Area School District graduation ceremonies.

The amount awarded will be presented to the recipient upon their providing the

E.O. Austin Home Historical Society a copy of their official transcript at the completion

of the first semester of college indicating they have successfully passed at least twelve


(12) college credits.

Main Street Improvements

Have you noticed the improved appearance of Main Street here in Austin, Pennsylvania, in the past couple of months?

Walter Goodwin, who is the new owner of the garage, has cleaned the building inside and out,  attractively arranged advertising on the windows, and installed new signage.

Bub Crosby, who recently purchased the building next to Harry's, has cleaned the windows and store front, making it much more attractive.  He has also been very busy working inside the building.  Bub's  daughter, Rhonda, has been helping him.  Bub has not revealed any plans for the building, but the effort he has taken in improving it's appearance is noteworthy and bodes well for our community.